Well Liverpool is where I live and study atm and my partner is at Manchester Uni, plus Manchester is the only place (I know of) that offers an MRes in Philosophy, which I'm increasingly liking the sound of. I know both cities amazingly well and I love both of them; when you add all that up; its pretty illogical to move away

Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it! You've replied quicker and with more info. than either of the uni's respective departments!

If you'd be prepared to commute, there's a good philosophy MA, which involves lots of writing assignments, at Leeds:

http://www.philosophy.leeds.ac.uk/PostgraduateInfo/ma_in_philosophy.htm

There's also one at York:

http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/phil/gsp/ma_philosophy.html

Both York and Leeds are just about do-able from Manchester (Leeds just under an hour, York just under an hour and a half). All depends, though, on your willingness to commute to find the best course, I guess ...